Bryant, 35, recently signed a contract extension that will keep him in purple and gold through the 2015-16 season. His basketball future in the NBA, let alone the Olympics, is questionable beyond that.

The veteran guard's role on the 2012 London squad was reduced from that of 2008 in Beijing, where he scored 20 points in Team USA's 118-107 win over Spain in the gold metal game.

Despite diminished playing time in 2012, though, the Black Mamba was still the Black Mamba.

Bryant, who's recovering from a knee injury after rehabbing a torn Achilles' in the offseason, will be back on the court at some point this year because, as he put it, it's his "job.” But the hope that he might make a return before the end of January has been dashed.